Committees

It is the task of the committees to carry out a preliminary examination of issues allotted to them, which means that they work closely with the Federal Council.

49th legislative period

The National Council has 11 standing committees:9 legislative and 2 supervisory committees.

The Council of States has 11 standing committees:9 legislative and 2 supervisory committees.

The National Council committees are made up of 25 members while the Council of States committees each have 13 members.

The committees are also responsible for monitoring social and political developments in the areas allotted to them by the Offices, and for proposing solutions to problems that arise (through a committee initiative).

Minutes of meetings

Unlike the minutes of the meetings of the National Council and the Council of States, which are published in the Official Gazette and can be freely consulted, the minutes of the Committees’ meetings, whose distribution within parliament is set out in Art. 6 of the Ordinance on Parliamentary Administration (OPA), are not available to the general public. Exceptions to this rule, which include in particular consultation for research purposes, are listed in Art. 7, para. 1 of the OPA.